The previous blog on how your perception can influence your speed control, presented some quick perceptual tests as well as ideas to counter your distance misperceptions.
I presented my ideas of using a "soft focus" to view the cup distance, using "primary gaze", walking the distance with your eyes or actually walking the distance. And, I discussed the importance of viewing the putt while standing off to the side, approximately equal distance from the ball and the cup to better appreciate the terrain between ball and cup and to visualize the ball's intended roll. In this blog, we will cover more powerful means to tackle the challenge of speed control. To potentially enhance your ability to appreciate visualization of the ball’s intended roll and speed, try this technique: Standing to the side of the ball’s path, point your dominant hand at the ball. Now, track the intended speed of the ball with your arm and hand as you imagine the ball being impacted by the putterface. The first part of the roll is an accelerated skid, what I referred to as the acceleration phase of the putt. The hand will increasingly slow down its movement as it approaches the hole, with the last few feet seeing a slow approach to the cup with a speed that would leave the ball 6-12 inches beyond the cup. The entire roll of the ball from start to finish should approximate the actual time of the putt’s roll. In other words, you need to be an accurate visualizer as well. More about this technique in a bit, but first, lets look at your visualization accuracy skills. For an example, a 20-foot, level putt on a nine Stimp (speed) took three seconds from start to stop. Now, answer a question. How long would it take if the 20-footer was a moderate uphill putt? More, less or an equal amount of time? Now, how long will it take for a 20-foot, downhill putt? More, less or an equal time? If you said the uphill putt and the downhill putt took the same amount of time as the level putt, you would be wrong. The same if you said the uphill putt took MORE time than the level putt, due to your reasoning that the uphill terrain acts like it is a longer putt. While true in terms of adjusting for the terrain, it shows that you could better appreciate the effects of gravity on the ball’s roll. Don’t feel too bad, the vast majority of students in my clinics were guilty of inaccurate visualization. To appreciate the correct answers, it may be easier to first imagine the ball’s roll on a downhill surface. You don’t impact the ball with the same energy as you would an level or uphill putt. So, the ball must go slower off the putterface. As well, the ball rolls out farther than a level or uphill putt, based on gravity offering less resistance to the ball, keeping the ball rolling longer. A downhill putt may take two or three seconds longer than an uphill putt. So, the answer is; uphill putts take less time than a level putt, due to the increased acceleration of the putterface and the quicker slow-to-stop phase of the ball’s roll due to gravity pushing against the ball, and the downhill putt takes more time than a level putt of the same distance. When implementing the eye-hand technique while viewing from the side of the ball and hole, you may discover that by the time your eyes and hand reach the cup, it took longer or appeared farther than you initially expected. This should signal to you a misperception of the actual or true distance. Going back to the original test in this article, if you pointed short of the target with your perception, looking beyond the target for your last look before pulling the trigger can provide the muscles with an assist to get the ball farther toward the cup. You can play with how far to look beyond the target, then opening your eyes after you point to see if that point allows you to accurately point to the actual target. As well, practice putting behind the ball by a few feet, versus at the ball, if it is difficult for you to look at a point beyond the cup or vice versa, if needing to look in front of the target because your perception is long. Likewise, if you are faced with a downhill putt, looking at a point in front of the target, depending on the degree of slope, gives the brain's command a more accurate focus. Of course, if you are one of the few who feels you got to the cup quicker than expected, or you pointed beyond the target on the initial test, you, too, can benefit from the side-view visualization. It may be of benefit to fixate in front of the cup on a level surface, to help you adjust to your misperception. Either misperception can be remediated more quickly with the side view appreciation of true distance. For some, the side view and the eye-hand technique can be even more powerful while watching a good-speed-control player putt while performing the technique. This becomes experiencing an accurate visualization that can enhance your skills at mastering distance control. _______________________________________ Bobby Locke's good friend, Phil Ritson, once shared with me Locke's approach to speed control. Phil once asked Bobby, "You ALWAYS have such awesome speed control on EVERY putt, what is your mental approach that yields such consistent touch?" "That's easy," Bobby said. "I just imagine the ball's roll to the cup in red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo and violet colors." (Those seven colors form the acronym "ROYGBIV.") Phil thought that was "nuts!" Then, after my discussion of visualization in colors at the Phil Ritson Academy instructors, Phil said, "Now I better realize Bobby was visualizing in Technicolor!" "I thought he was crazy and now I see he was not just a motor-skilled golfer but also a VISUAL GENIUS!" _______________________________________ Along with the above, Mike Adams recommendations in Golf Magazine's Best Putting Instruction Book, Ever! that a player should stand farther behind the ball for uphill putts, so as to better help visualize the true length as well as standing closer to the hole, near your putting line for downhill putts. If you tend to be short on level and uphill putts, stand farther from the hole, behind the ball for your practice putts. This can provide the brain with the extra energy necessary to compensate for your misperception. Remember, nothing beats giving yourself all kinds of distance challenges on the putting green to learn from. Lastly, understand that being a better green-reader can only improve your speed control. The AimPoint instructors are tops in minimizing your read mistakes. Even if you have taken the AimPoint Express class, revisit your instructor for more help on speed control techniques! I hope these two blogs will assist you in creating a plan to master speed control.
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